Davis Riley was focused, and stuck to his game plan of fairways and greens during a bogey-free 67 in the first round. (USGA/Jonathan Ernst)

By
Greg Midland, USGAJuly 21, 2014

THE
WOODLANDS, Texas – It didn’t take long for Davis Riley, the 2013 U.S. Junior
Amateur Championship runner-up, to make his presence felt in this year’s
championship at The Club at Carlton Woods’ Nicklaus Course.

The
17-year-old from Hattiesburg, Miss., began his round at 7:30 a.m. CDT and
polished off a bogey-free, 5-under 67 before the searing Texas heat took full
effect. He holds a one-stroke lead over Sam Horsfield, of England, and Joshua
Sedeno, of Roseville, Calif., in the race for stroke-play medalist.

The
second round of stroke-play qualifying will be conducted on Tuesday, with the
top 64 finishers advancing to the match-play portion of the championship.

Riley’s
sterling round included five birdies and virtually no stress, which is an
accomplishment on this challenging par-72 course that was set up at 7,219
yards.

“Starting
the round, I just told myself fairways and greens and make a few putts here and
there,” said Riley. “I hit a ton of greens, had about five or six shots up
there to within 10 feet of the hole and took advantage of my opportunities.”

This
is the last year that Riley will be eligible to play in the U.S. Junior, and
while there is still a long way to go, he hopes to apply the lessons he learned
when this championship shifts to match play starting on Wednesday.

“Last
year was a really good learning experience,” he said. “I learned that a lot of
fairways and greens are going to win matches, so let the other guy make the
mistakes. Just the experience of the past two years really helped me out a
lot.”

As
good as Riley’s round was, he has good company on the leader board. Shrugging
off the heat and the difficult course, 29 players posted under-par rounds
today, displaying the depth of talent in the junior ranks.

Horsfield
and Sedeno both shot their 68s in the afternoon. Horsfield, a quarterfinalist
in the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur who also reached the round of 32 in last week’s
U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, came into today with good form and a
positive attitude.

“When
you’re playing well, you feel like you know what you’re going to do,” said
Horsfield. “You just have a lot of confidence when you’re playing well and
especially against good competition.”

While
Horsfield has lived in Orlando, Fla., since he was 5 years old and is used to
the heat and humidity, he’s looking forward to his morning starting time for
Tuesday’s second round.

“I
like playing in the morning. I feel like the greens are pure since nobody has
walked on them,” he said. “I have the first tee time out, so there should be
some good birdie opportunities and I’m looking forward to it.”

In
contrast to Riley and Horsfield, Sedeno is making his USGA championship debut.
He got off to a somewhat shaky start with bogeys on two of his first seven
holes, but then proceeded to birdie four holes in a row (13-16) and add a
closing birdie at the par-5 18th to post his 4-under round.

Among
the group of seven players at 3-under 69 is Jacob Solomon, of Dublin, Calif.,
who had a memorable start to his first USGA championship.

“I
actually birdied the first hole, chipped in from right off the green and that
was pretty cool to get the nerves away and start with a birdie,” he said.

Joining
Solomon at 69 are Cheng Jin, of the People’s Republic of China; Braden
Thornberry, of Olive Branch, Miss.; Tony Gil, of Canada; Brad Dalke, of Hobart,
Okla.; Thomas Longbella, of Chippewa Falls, Wis.; and John Mancinotti, of
Toledo, Ohio. All are well-positioned to reach match play with another good
round Tuesday.

Three
notables in the field who shot 1-under 71 are 2014 U.S. Open qualifier Will
Grimmer, of Cincinnati; 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur quarterfinalist Cameron Young,
of Scarborough, N.Y.; and five-time U.S. Junior participant William Zalatoris,
of Plano, Texas.

Two
more quarterfinalists from last year, Zecheng Dou, of the People’s Republic of
China, and John Augenstein, of Owensboro, Ky., finished at 72 and 73,
respectively.

Players
from the Houston area who are competing include Brady Price (73), of The
Woodlands; Zach Tracy (77), of Houston; and Kyle Hogan (81), of Cypress.

Greg
Midland is the director of editorial and multimedia content for the USGA. Email
him at gmidland@usga.org.

Results

THE
WOODLANDS, Texas – Results from Monday’s first round of stroke-play qualifying at
the 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, conducted at The Club at Carlton
Woods’ Nicklaus Course (7,219 yards, par 72):

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